


Curse In Reverse

by RagingLamb



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Button Eyes (Coraline), Canon-Typical Creepiness (Coraline), Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Gen, Inspired by Coraline, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance if you squint I guess, Zodiac Curse (Fruits Basket)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28778046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RagingLamb/pseuds/RagingLamb
Summary: What if the zodiac curse worked differently? What if there was more to it? Tohru finds out when she stumbles upon a crying rabbit and follows it through the little door in her bedroom into the secret Sohma estate.
Relationships: Honda Tohru & Sohma Kisa, Honda Tohru & Sohma Kyou, Honda Tohru & Sohma Momiji, Honda Tohru/Sohma Kyou
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	1. Rabbit Tears

Tohru was happy to be back in her grandfather’s home after so long spent in her tent in the woods. Sure, her grandfather’s family weren’t the most pleasant people to be around, but she was a strong girl. She could handle it. (She didn’t think about how she maybe shouldn’t have to.)

So Tohru is plenty happy to be back in her room, to be able to unpack and settle back in. That’s when she notices the door. It wasn’t there before the renovations, she was pretty sure about that, but when she brought it up at dinner her aunt shot her a nasty look.

“I’m sure it’s purely decorative,” she said with a sneer.

And that was that on that. Even though it looked like Tohru’s grandfather had been about to speak up on the subject.

Tohru was fine dropping the subject. But then she saw the rat that darted across her bedroom floor and through the crack under the door.

That was when she went to speak about it more to her grandfather. He just smiled at her and clasped her hands in his.

“You’ll know what to do about it, Kyouko.”

When he dropped her hands and wandered off, there was a small brass key nestled in her palm. Unfortunately, the door opened to a plain brick wall. Purely decorative, indeed.

Tohru wore the key around her neck anyway.

=====================================================================================

A few days after the rat and the key, Tohru was walking home from school when she saw a rabbit sitting in the grass of an empty lot. It was small and cream colored with big brown eyes that seemed to be full of tears. It was watching a small family walk down the street until they disappeared around the corner.

Then the tears dripped down the little creature’s face, slicking down the fur in little tracks.

Tohru couldn’t help herself. She knelt down in the grass and scooped the rabbit into her arms. And suddenly, she wasn’t holding a rabbit at all. She was holding a little boy with blonde hair and the biggest brown eyes she’d ever seen. Tears were streaking down his face which he pressed briefly into her shoulder before wiping them away.

“But-but you were a r-rabbit!” Tohru cried, still holding the boy.

“Oh,” he said, looking up at her with his big brown eyes, “Yes, I suppose I was.”

“But you’re a boy now!”

He smiled a brilliant smile, “Yes! I’m a boy now!”

Tohru felt like the world was spinning.

“H-How?”

“Oh, you see I’m a rabbit unless I’m in a special place or if I get hugged. When I get hugged,” he said, burrowing back into Tohru’s arms, “I get to be a boy for a few minutes.”

=====================================================================================

Tohru was at a loss for what to do with the boy—the rabbit—Momiji—his name was Momiji, but lucky for her, the family was out for the afternoon, so the house was empty when she got home. Nobody to question her about the energetic boy at her side or the sudden appearance of a rabbit when he changed back in her room.

When he changed back, he just hopped along the floor for a bit, content to be a rabbit for the moment. Until he saw the little door between her desk and her bed. Then he hopped up to it and placed a paw to on the wood and looked up at her.

“You have a door!”

“Yes,” Tohru said, “Isn’t it cute?”

“No—I mean yes—but the point is, it’s a door to the special place, the place where I am always a boy.”

Tohru tilted her head at Momiji, not even considering how ridiculous it was to be having a conversation with a talking rabbit about a door leading to somewhere other than the other side of the wall it was part of.

“I hate to disappoint you, Momiji, but that door’s all bricked up—look.”

But when Tohru put the key in the lock and turned the knob, the door didn’t open to brick, not at all.

The world beyond the door was a lush expanse of gardens and houses walled in by a tall stone fence. Momiji hopped through and was a boy in an instant. He turned to Tohru and smiled, beckoning her in.

“Come on, Tohru, we can have tea!”

Tohru crawled through the door and into the garden on the other side, feeling a shiver of magic wash over her as she passed through.

They spent the afternoon there, basking in the warm sunlight and the sweet perfume of the flowers. They drank tea and ate cake and talked until Tohru started yawning and slowly drifted asleep in the dappled shade of one of the trees in the garden.

Next thing she knew, she woke up in her bed with the scent of tea and flowers lingering around her.

=====================================================================================

“So, Tohru, where were you all afternoon?” Tohru’s aunt asked over breakfast.

“Oh,” Tohru blanched, “I was just . . . having tea with a friend.”

Her aunt didn’t even look at her.

“Well, make sure to tell us if you’re not going to be in for dinner next time. I’d hate to waste any food.”

Tohru bowed her head. “Yes auntie.”

=====================================================================================

Right after breakfast, Tohru locked her bedroom door and crawled back through the little door to the secret estate that laid on the other side. Momiji was already there with tea and cookies laid out on a soft picnic blanket.

“So, who were those people you were watching yesterday?” Tohru asked before rushing out, “Not that you’re obligated to tell me!”

“Oh, you mean my family! That was my mother and my father and my little sister, Momo.”

“Do you not live with them?”

Momiji shook his head, looking very sad all of a sudden, “No, my mama and Momo don’t know about me, not really. My mama forgot when I was very small; it hurt her to know me, to know what I was, so she got the Sohma doctor, Hari, to erase her memories of me.”

Tohru gasped, one hand over her mouth. She thought of her own mother, of the love that’d spilled out of her; she couldn’t imagine her mother choosing to forget her.

“It’s selfish, I think,” Momiji continued, “But I wish that she had been stronger, strong enough to remember me and to love me.”

And he was crying and Tohru was holding him tight, pressing his face into her shoulder.

“Is it selfish of me to want that, Tohru? Am I weak for it?”

Tohru shook her head and pressed him closer to her, “No, never. You wish your mom would love you, there’s nothing selfish about that, Momiji.”

Her voice dropped as she clutched him impossibly closer, “I wish your mom had been strong enough to love you, too. I wish,” she said, shaking with the intensity of the emotions rushing through her, “You could be with your family, with your mom and dad and Momo.”

They sat there, in the shade and sunlight of the gardens in the secret estate. They cried until their tears dried up and then they were cheerful again, talking and drinking tea like nothing was wrong at all.

“What about your family, Tohru?”

“Hmm? Oh! My family! They’re-They’re great really. I live with my grandpa and my aunt and uncle and cousin.”

Momiji tilted his head, “Not your mother or your father?”

“Oh, um, no. My dad passed away when I was very young, and my mom died just a few months ago. I’ve been living with my grandpa since,” Tohru said, staring off at a bird perched in the tree they were sat under, “Though, I did live on my own for a bit, while the house was being renovated.”

“I’m so sorry, Tohru. I didn’t mean to pry.”

Tohru shook her head, “No need to worry, Momiji. It’s okay, really.”

So why did Tohru’s heart hurt?


	2. Chapter 2

There was a cat. A very angry orange cat.

It was perched atop the wall separating the secret estate from the rest of the world (by some kind of magic, Momiji had said during one of those first few meetings).

It had been a good few weeks since Tohru had first met Momiji and come through the little door to the secret Sohma estate which was connected to the real world Sohma estate by a large gate at the back of the property that had only opened to admit servants and the zodiac members and their immediate family for as long as anyone could remember. Momiji had talked sparingly about the curse that turned him into a rabbit in the outside world, but he’d loved explaining the world that contained the secret estate and had been eager to answer the questions that Tohru had about it.

This was the first time they’d been interrupted though. And it was certainly the first time they’d encountered a talking cat.

“Oh Kyou,” Momiji huffed, “Can’t you just go away!”

“You brat!” the cat spat back, “You know how much trouble you’ll be in when Akito finds out about that stupid girl!”

“Tohru’s not stupid Kyou! You apologize to her right now!”

The cat puffed up, “I ain’t apologizing! You need to get her out of here right now—OW!”

Momiji had thrown one of shoes square into the cat’s face. Tohru covered her mouth with both hands, trying in vain to contain her squeak.

“Fine!” The cat shouted, “I’ll leave, but don’t come crying to me when Akito finds out!”

And just like that, the cat—Kyou—disappeared.

He became a regular presence at Tohru and Momiji’s meetings after that, showing up to remind Momiji of the trouble he’d be in, though Momiji never seemed worried about it. When Tohru asked about it, about Akito and the trouble he’d be in if they were found out, Momiji just smiled.

“It’s okay, Tohru, Akito doesn’t leave the main house much, so we’ll be fine.”

=====================================================================================

Tohru wasn’t expecting to find another animal in need when she walked past the lot she found Momiji in weeks before, but she hadn’t been expecting Momiji either, so how surprised could she be to find a little striped cat in the grass, bleeding from scrapes on its little paws.

She took her gym clothes out of her school bag and used them to wrap the little thing up, so she could more easily carry it home.

Once in her room, the little cat caught sight of the little door and proceeded to throw a fit, biting and scratching until Tohru dropped it. And then the cat began to scratch angrily at the little door and it clicked for Tohru.

The cat, or tiger Tohru realized, was one of Momiji’s relatives, one of the members of the zodiac. She smiled at the angry little thing and pulled out her first aid kit so she could start working on the scrapes. And, with a great deal more stealth and precision than Tohru normally had, she picked the tiger cub up and held it to her chest. And there was a little girl there in her arms, staring confused up at Tohru.

She let go before the girl could recover and bite her and the girl just looked more confused, one hand reaching up before twitching back down.

Tohru gently took the girl’s hand and smiled at her again, turning the hand palm up so she could see the damage. It wasn’t serious, just some scrapes, but it was still present and something that Tohru could help with and so she would. She did, cleaning out the abrasions and wrapping them up in bandages.

“Now,” Tohru said, clasping her hands in front of her, “I think we should go and see Momiji.”

The little girl paused for a moment, before nodding. They went through the door and there was Momiji.

“Kisa!” Momiji cried, “What were you doing out of the estate?”

Kisa didn’t answer, instead she turned to Tohru and buried her face in Tohru’s stomach.

“I found her where I met you, Momiji. She was a little scraped up,” Tohru explained, “But otherwise she seemed fine. I figured I should bring her with me since she’s one of the zodiac members.”

“Thank you, Tohru. Who knows what could have happened to her out there; her mother would be worried, and Hiro too.”

“Hiro?” Tohru asked.

“Oh, he’s one of the zodiac as well: the ram. He and Kisa are quite close.”

“He sounds nice.” Someone who was friends with someone as cute as Kisa had to be nice, Tohru thought.

“Actually, he’s a brat!” Momiji looked way too happy saying that.

=====================================================================================

Kisa didn’t speak for some time, but she did start showing up to Momiji and Tohru’s tea parties. She’d sit as close as she could to Tohru and cling to her side.

“What’s Kisa doing here?!” And Kyou was still coming around too.

“Isn’t it obvious, Kyou?” Momiji asked, brandishing his teacup, “She’s having tea with us!”

“I can see that,” Kyou hissed, “I mean, why have you two dragged her into this?”

“I want to be with Tohru,” a little voice said.

Tohru couldn’t believe it and Kyou and Momiji both looked as shocked as she felt. It was the first time she’d spoken since Tohru had met her.

Kyou’s tail lashed angrily as Tohru fawned over how cute Kisa’s voice was. And then he hopped off the fence and ran off.

“What’s all the hubbub? Oh, Kisa.”

Tohru looked up, startled from her gushing by the appearance of a boy with black and white hair. He blinked slowly at the gathering and then zoned in on the door behind them before dropping down to sit at the edge of the blanket.

“You must be Tohru Honda, Momiji told me a bit about you. My name’s Hatsuharu Sohma. I’m the ox.”

Tohru bowed, as much as she could with Kisa still glued to her side, “Pleased to meet you, Hatsuharu!”

Hatsuharu was a bit strange, at least, Tohru thought he was, just a bit. He spoke and moved slowly, like he was living at a different rate than the rest of the world. And he had some bizarre ideas that would just fall out of his mouth without any warning. Still, Tohru couldn’t help finding his company pleasant. She wondered if it was just part of the zodiac curse, being strangely pleasant.

“But what was all the commotion?” Haru asked when he’d settled in to sip at his tea.

“Just Kyou being mean and throwing a temper tantrum like always,” Momiji replied.

“I don’t think that’s fair, Momiji. I don’t think Kyou was being very mean.” Tohru cut in because Haru had just nodded along like that was all there was to be said about it, all there could be to say.

“You’re too nice, Tohru.” Momiji told her, “Kyou is the meanest of the zodiac. He has a foul temper and a sharp tongue.”

“It’s just—he just seems like he’s worried about us getting into trouble. I just think he’s coming from a place of caring.”

Momiji looked thoughtful, “I guess that’s fair enough. Akito is a nasty piece of work, especially when he’s angry. I’d be worried too. Still,” he continued, puffing up his chest, “Kyou could stand to be nicer about it all!”

Kisa nodded where she was pressed against Tohru’s side. And a moment later, so did Haru. Tohru sighed, she supposed she couldn’t hope to turn around their opinions of the cat in one conversation, no matter how much she wanted to.

=====================================================================================

Tohru wished she could say she’d been expecting to run into another member of the zodiac when she walked crawled through the little door into the secret estate, but the truth of the matter was that she’d been expecting Momiji or Kisa or nobody at all to be there. Instead there was a tall, stiff looking man in a suit and coat standing just beyond the door.

“Ah,” he said when she poked her head through, “You must be Miss. Honda. I am Hatori Sohma, the family doctor. The family head, Akito, asked me to check with you.”

Tohru was frozen, whatever she might’ve said trapped in her throat as a painful lump. She was panicking; Akito knew about her. Momiji was going to be in so much trouble. And Kisa! Would Kisa be in trouble? Haru? Kyou?

Her frantic, spiraling thoughts were interrupted by Hatori reaching out a hand to help her up. It was just enough of a shock ton her system to release her from her paralysis, just enough to let her take his hand and be helped up.

“Now, Miss. Honda, you must be aware by now that the Sohma family curse and this estate are both very important secrets and it’s imperative that they remain so.”

Tohru nodded, “Of course! It’d be really bad if it got out that the zodiac members were well . . . the zodiac members.”

Hatori nodded at her reply, “Yes, it would be very bad indeed. The curse and the estate both are very ancient and complicated magic and it would put the Sohma family in a vulnerable position if it were to come out that some of its members were cursed, or worse that some of its members might have knowledge of the sort of magic that once created and now maintains the secret estate.

“It’s now my job to judge whether or not you can be trusted with knowing these most guarded secrets . . . or if I will have to remove your memories of this place, the curse, and the Sohmas you have met thus far.”

Tohru’s eyes were wide. Momiji had mentioned the Sohma doctor erasing his mother’s memories of him when they’d first met. Tohru had never considered that she might be at risk of the same thing happening to her. She grabbed Hatori’s lapels, suddenly frantic.

“I haven’t told anyone about anything to do with the Sohmas! And I wouldn’t—I won’t! I just want to be friends with Momiji and Kisa and Hatsuharu! I even want to keep seeing Kyou, even though he can be brash, I like to see him; I like it here!”

Hatori held up one hand to silence Tohru.

“I can see that you have no intention of revealing our secrets, Miss. Honda. But I have to warn you before you tangle yourself any tighter with the Sohmas,” and he brushed a hand through his hair, pushing back his bangs and—oh god. Tohru felt her heart climb into her throat. There was a _button sewn over his eye!_ “It’s not as simple as people stuck as animals and a magic estate behind a set of closed doors.”

He made eye contact with Tohru, “This place hides a plethora of hidden dangers that you can’t even begin to guess at.” Then he asked, “Do you still want to continue visiting this place?”

Tohru stood stock still for a moment. The image of Hatori’s button eye swirling around her head with the words echoing around. And then an unnatural sort of calm washed over her.

She did want to keep visiting the secret estate.

“I do.”

It was as simple as that.


	3. Wild Horses

After meeting Hatori, Tohru resumed her regular visits to the secret estate. She’d enjoy Momiji and Kisa’s company, sometimes Haru too. And of course, Kyou was still showing up regularly to glare at them and pout over her continued presence (which was very cute given that he was a cat at the time).

One day though, Tohru came into the secret estate a little early and found herself sitting alone in the garden for some time. At least until the girl showed up. She was beautiful with the most beautiful long black hair that Tohru had ever seen. And her eyes were gorgeous too even though they were glaring down at Tohru.

“Tohru Honda,” she said, stalking over to stand above Tohru, “You need to leave.”

Tohru wondered, briefly if this girl was like Kyou in his worries.

“You’re going to get Haru into trouble with Akito if you keep hanging around him.”

She wasn’t like Kyou, not really. Her worry wasn’t as general as Kyou’s. She may have worried in the back of her mind about Momiji and Kisa, but it was clear that this girl was only here to keep Tohru from getting Hatsuharu into any kind of trouble. Tohru’s heart was warm at the idea of someone caring for another so much.

Tohru bowed low to the ground before straightening and looking into those glaring eyes, “I’m sorry, I don’t intend to get Hatsuharu into any trouble.”

The girl bristled.

“Well then stay away from him!” And then she was storming off in the other direction.

=====================================================================================

A week later, Tohru caught the girl spying on her from behind a wall of a nearby house, so Tohru waved her over, more than happy to have her join in.

It was a little awkward with nobody else there and their last meeting lingering over them, but Tohru was nothing if not polite, so she properly introduced herself. And with the shock of that sudden bout of politeness, the girl—Rin—introduced herself as well.

She also numbly took a cup of tea and a biscuit while Tohru chattered on aimlessly about something that Rin would be hard pressed to recall even an hour later. Though, she would recall something far more important. She would remember Tohru’s kindness, the sort of kindness that isn’t demanding of the person being graced with it.

She didn’t even get to warn Tohru off seeing Hatsuharu before Momiji came bounding around a corner and she bolted.

Momiji came to a stop in front of Tohru, head tilted to the side.

“Was that Rin?”

And Tohru, bless her, just smiled.

=====================================================================================

Life continued like that for some time, through a changing of the seasons. With Momiji and Kisa being constant companions. Hatsuharu occasionally showing up. Rin showing up early to sit with Tohru in the grass and listen to her chatter. (Once, Kyou missed a step on the wall and fell squarely into Tohru’s lap and sat there stunned for several moments before he gathered his wits and ran away, yowling about stupid walls and stupider girls.)

It was nice, peaceful.

Of course, it couldn’t stay like that.

One cool autumn afternoon, Tohru came through the door into the secret estate to find someone standing in front of Momiji, holding his face in cruel hands that dug into the softness of him.

“You know better than this, Momiji,” they were saying, digging nails in to the point of drawing blood, “You’re mine to play with, nobody else gets to have you. Or do you need a reminder?”

Tohru didn’t understand what was happening, what was being discussed, but she knew that she couldn’t let this person hurt Momiji. And whatever _reminder_ they intended to give would hurt very badly.

So, she did the first thing her body felt like doing. She pushed them away from Momiji. Not hard. But she pushed them, just enough to separate them. To get those hands away from Momiji.

Their eyes were sharp on her face when she looked at them. But they were quick to lock it away.

“You must be Tohru Honda,” they said, spreading his arms wide, “I see you quite enjoy my estate.”

“Your . . .?” And it clicked, “You’re . . . Akito?”

They smiled at her and Tohru shivered. “Yes. I am Akito, the head of the Sohma family. And you, my dear, really are in a precarious position.”

Tohru tried to back up a step, but Akito had backed her slowly into the wall without her even noticing. They cupped her face, running one finger dangerously close to her eye.

“You have such pretty brown eyes, Tohru. Did you know that? I wonder . . .” And then they dragged their nails down her face, from just under her eye to her chin.

They held her there, gently grasping her chin for a moment before turning and walking away as if nothing had happened.

Tohru heard Momiji crying as one of them were underwater. She turned, numb, and held him lightly in her arms while he clung to her. He was apologizing, though Tohru couldn’t put together what he was apologizing for. Momiji hadn’t done anything.

Then she heard Kyou’s voice and tilted her head so she could look at him where he was perched up on the wall.

“I told you, you should leave. Look at the trouble you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“It’s not her fault Kyou! Akito—” Momiji’s voice caught painfully on Akito’s name.

“They wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t come around in the first place,” Kyou spat back, landing at their feet. He looked up at Tohru, “You need to leave. Now.”

Tohru was still in shock. She didn’t leave, not right then. She collapsed slowly to the ground, bringing Momiji with her. And now her hold was tighter. She clutched him to her and pressed her face into his hair. 

“You should stay away, for your own sake.”

That was Kyou. He was still there, off to the side. He pressed his little head against Tohru’s side and stayed there for a long time.

=====================================================================================

She woke up in her bed the next morning, her face carefully bandaged. She couldn’t remember who’d done that, but she appreciated it. She wondered if Momiji had gotten Hatori at some point, or maybe Kyou went and got him.

Tohru stumbled around in a daze until it was time for breakfast. She sat herself at the table next to her grandfather and across from her aunt.

“What happened to your face, Tohru?”

She pressed her fingers to the bandages. She’d almost forgotten. “Oh, I um . . . I got scratched by a cat.”

Her aunt clicked her tongue.

“You should be more careful. You shouldn’t go around handling strays.”


	4. Broken Dolls

The door was blocked.

Tohru had gone to her room immediately after breakfast and the door was blocked.

She panicked remembering how Akito had been with Momiji yesterday, how their hands had been so cruel on her face, the frantic fire in their eyes. She collapsed onto the floor, her head pressed into her arms. And then there was a knock on her bedroom door.

It was her grandpa. He was there, holding her coat and smiling. “Kyouko dear, aren’t you going to see your friends?”

He helped her into her coat and guided her to front door even as she babbled and stuttered, trying to find the words to explain how that wasn’t possible.

“They’re waiting for you, you know. You shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

And Tohru knew that was true. They were waiting and she couldn’t leave them like that. She pressed a kiss to her grandpa’s forehead and started walking to the place she’d met Momiji and Kisa.

They hadn’t come in through her bedroom, that was for sure. There had to be some way into the secret estate near there. And she would find it.

There was a little girl standing in the lot when Tohru arrived, a little she would recognize anywhere. It was Momiji’s little sister, Momo.

“Are you looking for Momiji?” she asked when Tohru approached.

Her eyes were so like Momiji’s as she looked up at Tohru. Tohru almost didn’t hear the question.

“Y-yes, I am.”

Momo took Tohru’s hand and pulled her around to the corner of the lot where a line of bushes ran into the fence at the back. She pushed back the leaves to reveal a hole in the fence, just big enough to crawl through.

Momo looked Tohru in the eye as she was crouched to examine the hole.

“You’ll find him, right?”

“I will.”

“Promise?” Momo asked, extending her pinky to Tohru.

Tohru looped her pinky around Momo’s, “Promise.”

=====================================================================================

The secret estate was strange when Tohru came through that day. It was black and white monochrome. And deathly quiet on top of that. There was no sign of life in the gardens, no people passing by, no birdsong. Unease pooled in Tohru’s belly as she turned to look around the gardens that had been so familiar just the day before.

“What are you doing here?!”

Tohru jumped, nearly shrieked.

Kyou was a warm splash of orange in the monochrome world. He hopped off of the wall to stand in front of Tohru as an irritated puffball.

“You shouldn’t be here, Tohru!”

Tohru’s fists clenched at her sides. “I have to. Momiji is in trouble because of me.”

“That’s just more reason for you not to be here!”

Tohru shook her head, “I have to help.”

“You really don’t,” And Kyou sighed, “But I guess there’s no stopping you.”

Tohru was startled when he jumped up onto her shoulders and curled up in the hood of her coat.

“Wha—?”

“I’m not just gonna let you walk into danger alone, obviously.”

And so they went, with Kyou giving Tohru directions to the main house of the estate. Kyou created a warm patch across her shoulders and back which Tohru deeply appreciated with the chill in the unnatural chill in the air.

=====================================================================================

The main house was a large, intimidating structure that sat squarely in the center of the secret estate. It dominated the space it occupied and Tohru felt a chill race down her spine as she walked up to the door. The chill and unease intensified as she pushed the door open with a deep creak.

It was dark in the hallway entryway and remained so all the way through the house. The only comfort in the cold and the dark was Kyou’s steady presence at her back and his voice guiding her through the darkened hallways.

Finally, they came upon a doorway that spilled cold white light out into the hall. This was their destination. Akito’s quarters.

The room that they walked into was set up for a feast. Thirteen places were set; twelve in a rough circle with one in the center.

Tohru gasped, almost every space was occupied by a zodiac member sitting straight and stiff. She spotted Momiji and Haru and Hatori and Kisa. She even saw Hatori sat between two other men. She didn’t recognize most of the others except for Momiji’s descriptions of the other zodiac members.

Then her eyes fell on Rin and she couldn’t help rushing forward, even with Kyou whispering harshly for her to stop and think.

Rin’s long beautiful hair was cut short and choppy and she was covered in bruises. This she had seen from the doorway, but up close she saw the worst part.

There were two black buttons sewn over her eyes. Tears started slipping down Tohru’s face then.

“Ah,” Akito’s voice drifted from the center of the room. Tohru hadn’t even noticed them. “Nice of you to join us, Tohru.”

Tohru turned to see Akito set aside a needle and thread they’d been holding. They placed a pair of buttons into the hands of the man kneeling in front of them. Tohru had never met the man, but he had to have been one of the zodiac members if he was in this room with Akito and the others. If Akito was preparing to sew buttons into his eyes.

Akito spread their arms, “You’re just in time to see my newly mended toys!”


	5. God And Their Garden

Akito stood there and that man was still at their feet. Tohru wondered again, briefly, which zodiac he was when he was outside the confines of the secret estate. But that wasn’t important just then.

“I didn’t want to have to do it, you know. They’re so much more fun when they think they have free will. But they got to thinking they were better off without me . . . because of you. So, I had to clip their wings . . . just a bit.

“They were born to love me,” Akito continued, stepping away from the man kneeling before them, “They belong to me,” and their smile went cruel, their eyes sharp on a spot just over Tohru’s shoulder, “Even Kyou, the _monster_ , belongs to me.”

“Kyou’s not a monster!” The words were out before Tohru could think on them. They were true.

Akito laughed. It was a manic laugh that had them bending at the waist and clutching at their sides. As if the concept of Kyou being anything but a monster was the peak of hilarity. To them it was.

Suddenly, they stopped laughing. Grasped at their chest.

Tohru saw a flash of color and burst of feathers in her periphery. And there was Momiji, no longer void of color and vibrancy, sitting dazed in his spot. His buttons were gone, nowhere to be seen.

Akito stumbled forward and took a fistful of Tohru’s hair, dragging her out into the gardens outside the main house. The whole time they were screaming at her, but Tohru wasn’t sure of what was being said, if anything was being said. She didn’t notice Kyou jumping from her hood either. Or the yowling as he followed, swiping at Akito’s ankles in an attempt to distract them from Tohru.

“This estate was supposed to be my world to shape as I please! And the zodiacs were meant to love me!” Akito screamed as they emerged into the gardens.

Tohru was sobbing, but still she looked up into their eyes, “You can’t force people to love you, Akito. You’ll only push them away.”

“Shut up!” Akito shouted and shoved Tohru back.

And Tohru fell into the pond she hadn’t realized they’d stopped in front of.

Just before she fell in, she saw Kyou and his terrified little face. And was he biting at his collar?

Then the water really hit her, and it was so very cold. It didn’t flow like it was supposed to either. It felt thick and slow around her as she thrashed under the surface. She wasn’t even able to make ripples apparent on that smooth plain of water.

Something smooth and scaly brushed against her ankle? A koi? No, it was far too big and the way it started to wrap around her ankle, pull her down further. No koi could do that.

Tohru knew she was going to die.

But she didn’t. Something broke the surface above her and arms wrapped around her, pulling her up by her armpits. And there was a handsome face framed by such pretty orange hair. Some part of her knew.

“Kyou?”

“Do me a favor?” He asked. “Don’t look, Tohru.”

And then he let go. But Tohru couldn’t look away. So, she saw it all. She saw how his skin began to steam and bulge obscenely. How it turned slowly into a dark brown color and his grew and bulged in their sockets, red-orange iris taking over the whites them. His face contorted, growing and stretching until he looked monstrous. A strange lizard-like creature where Kyou had been.

“ _Don’t look_!” He shrieked and was gone in an instant.

He was running away. Running from her.

“I told you he’s a monster,” Akito said, sounding dazed.

“He’s not a monster!” Tohru shouted, suddenly coming back to herself. And before she knew it, she was running too, in the same direction as Kyou. Because she couldn’t stand not to, not when he was so good at the heart of himself. Not when Tohru felt herself being pulled so strongly towards him.

=====================================================================================

Tohru didn’t hear Akito when they collapsed to their knees in their garden. When they looked up at Kureno standing beside them and said, “I don’t understand. How can she love a monster?”

Kureno said nothing. Simply lowered himself to Akito’s side and held them close to his chest.

And Akito cried.

=====================================================================================

When Tohru finally caught up to Kyou, he was standing at the blocked door into her bedroom.

“ _Go away.”_

Tohru shook her head. “I won’t! Not when you’re hurting!”

And with that, she stepped closer, pressing her chest against Kyou’s scaly back as she held him tight. There was a burst of feathers and color like with Momiji in the feast room and suddenly Kyou was a boy like when he’d held Tohru after rescuing her.

The curse was broken. Anyone in the secret estate could feel it. The air filled with a great cracking sound and color began seeping back into the world from the ground up. The birds resumed their singing and a few heads poked out of the buildings to bask in the color and sound.

There was one final _crack_ and the door into Tohru’s room split down the middle. Tohru pressed her hand to the wood and looked back at Kyou who was standing over her.

“How am I going to get home?”

Kyou dropped a hand onto her head and ruffled her hair, “Through the gate, stupid. I’ll walk you.”

As it turned out, once the curse was lifted the Secret Estate didn’t exist in a bubble anymore. It was back where it belonged, sat firmly at the center of the Sohma Estate. So, yes, after Tohru checked on Momiji and the other zodiac members (all of whom were button free), Kyou took her home with the promise that she could come back the next day.

When she did, she gave Kisa and Momiji and Rin all hugs. She gave Kyou a chaste kiss. And she asked to see Akito. That brought protests from everyone, but apparently Akito had instructed everyone to allow Tohru through to them if she asked to see them.

Kureno smiled at her when he opened the door for her before leaving her alone with Akito. Akito looked tired.

They didn’t understand how Tohru could stand to look at them, let alone request an audience with them.

Tohru didn’t entirely know how to explain, but she tried.

“I don’t think you’re a monster either,” and that was all that needed to be said.

Akito curled themselves around her, crying like a babe, and Tohru ran gentle fingers through their hair until they calmed down and dozed in her lap.

In the end, Akito extended an invitation that Tohru was almost too polite to refuse (Kyou made sure to see to it that she accepted what she deserved though). So Tohru moved into the Sohma estate by the end of the week.

And of course, she brought Hana and Uo over for a housewarming party.


End file.
